Unbelievable that North Yorkshire Police failed to protect the PM’s home - Yorkshire Post Letters

When I heard that Greenpeace had entered the grounds of the Prime Minister’s private home near Richmond, unchallenged, and mountaineers and activists had spent two hours climbing his mansion in North Yorkshire and draping it completely in black curtains for a publicity stunt - I was, simply, astounded.

Nothing seems to surprise me these days about our country and the actions of our own citizens, but this incident reflects the complete failure of protection towards Rishi Sunak and his family at their private home. Scandalous. They deserve much better by the police and respect by ourselves regardless of our political outlook.

Yes, the Sunak’s were all away on the first day of their holiday in California, and did not witness the serious invasion of privacy for the most senior of all our public political figures - but there are serious questions to be asked as to why there is no permanent guard by North Yorkshire Police under the control of the Chief Constable, Lisa Winward and also Laurence Taylor, the Met’s Deputy Assistant Commissioner.

For a large group of well prepared activists to arrive and spend two hours unimpeded to carry out a national stunt is farcical.

I can remember visiting the home in the IRA days of Barnsley MP and Minister of State, the affable Roy Mason, who had a permanent armed police guard and building in the garden, bomb proof curtains and a police panic hotline for his and his family’s protection.

The country and our institutions are suffering from a complete lack of leadership and allowing all those minorities with extreme fanatical agendas - particularly regarding the climate - to impose their views with a complete lack of empathy for the majority who are struggling with the burdens of their lives and who are trying to go about their daily lives keeping their families intact.

I thought ‘an Englishman’s home was his castle (now add woman’s) but there needs to be new laws making it a criminal act for demonstrators’ to congregate outside a person’s home or deface it.

The home should be protected as being sacrosanct. It is totally unacceptable and, as my wife and I found out, we can still remember the trauma of being burgled forty years ago one Christmas.

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that North Yorkshire Police did not protect the PM’s home; a year ago thieves stole nearly £20,000 from a serious online fraud involving ourselves (it was nearly £40,000) and we only received a phone call from the police. We are still waiting for a visit.